Forever Has to Start Somewhere

Chapter 4: Theatrically

On Monday morning, Jesse walked into McKinley High to find Rachel leaning against his locker with her books gripped tightly to her chest.

"Hello," he greeted. He pressed his lips to hers in a quick hello before tapping on her hip with two fingers.

Understanding the gesture, she slid herself over so he could spin in his combination. Her voice was soft as she returned his greeting, "Good morning."

"I'm certainly not going to complain about it," he said as he twisted the lock, "but why are you here already? You told me not to pick you up today so I figured you were running late."

"That's not why I told you not to get me." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I'm going to need my car after school."

"Why? You know I don't mind dropping you off wherever you need to be."

"I know. I just have plans after school that I think would make you uncomfortable."

He quirked an eyebrow but didn't turn to look at her. "What could you possibly be doing that would make me uncomfortable?" A thought crossed his mind that had him frowning and turning so she was just in his vision. "You aren't going to Hudson's, are you?"

"No. There's no reason for me to visit Finn's house." Her fingers curled tighter around her books. "I'm driving over to Carmel to see Shelby."

His entire body froze.

"Rachel-"

"Stop. You told me to wait a week and see if I was sure. Well I am and I'm going to do it."

He sucked in a deep breath before letting it out.

"Alright." He focused all of his attention on her. "If that's what you want then I won't argue with you about it."

"You promise?"

"I promise." Jesse reached out, putting his hand over hers. "You know I'm only against this because I'm worried she'll hurt you, right? She might have only told me to befriend you, but she certainly wasn't objecting when I got closer to you then that. She didn't care that it was going to break your heart as long as you went to her afterwards."

She turned her palm so their fingers could lace together. "I know."

"Okay." He gave her hand a tight squeeze. "Are you sure you want to do this alone? I could go with you."

"I would love for you to come with me, but I think this is probably something I have to do alone."

"I'll respect that then." He squeezed her hand once more before letting go. "Let me grab my french textbook, then we can go to the music room. Singing will calm your nerves."

"Jesse, I think you had better come downstairs!"

Confusion filled Jesse at his uncle's request, but he obeyed it nonetheless. He rolled himself off of his bed, leaving his textbooks strewn across it, and made his way downstairs.

"What's going on?" he questioned when he'd found the man. His uncle was standing in the foyer, the door open in front of him. "Is someone-"

"Jesse."

For what seemed like the hundredth time in the past few weeks, Jesse felt as if his heart was shattering in his chest when he looked at Rachel.

There were fat tears gathered in her eyes and mascara treks running down her cheeks.

"Rachel." He darted forward, relief flooding him when his uncle moved swiftly out of the way, and wrapped his arms around her. He could feel her body shaking in his embrace. "Oh Rachel, what happened?"

"S-She doesn't want me," Rachel choked out. Her words were muffled by Jesse's tee-shirt and warped by her sobs, but still understandable. "She thought there would be this big moment when everything clicked and when there wasn't she didn't want me."

"Oh, baby..." His arms tightened around her, pulling her even closer. "I'm so sorry. I am so so sorry."

"N-Not your fault."

"It is," he insisted. He smoothed his hand down her hair. "I should have fought you more. I should have insisted on coming with you."

"It would only have made me a-angrier," she answered. Her fingers tightened their hold on the back of his shirt. "T-Then I wouldn't have you either."

"You'll always have me." He pressed a kiss against her hair, "Always."

He looked up, sending a glance over his shoulder at his uncle.

The man seemed to understand what he wanted, because he gave a small nod.

Jesse gave him a small smile before saying to Rachel, "Baby, why don't we go up to my bedroom? You'll be more comfortable there."

"I don't want to let you go."

"You don't have to." He braced himself before scooping down to gather her thighs in his hands. She wrapped her legs around his waist instantly and buried her face in his neck. He hated the feeling of her tears against his skin. "I know it's not what you want to hear, but she is so stupid. You are such a wonderful girl and she is so stupid to let the chance to be in your life slip from her fingers."

Jesse knocked twice before entering the classroom, calling out, "Mr. Schuester?"

The man looked up from the paper he was examining. Surprise flickered across his face. "Jesse. I wasn't expecting you."

"I know, but I was hoping to talk to you about something." He gripped the strap of his messenger bag as anger flared up inside him. "It's about Rachel."

"Are you two having problems?"

"No. We're fine. It's more-" Jesse struggled with how to explain this. He wasn't usually this bad with words. Eventually, he settled on just getting it out. "Rachel's birth mother is Shelby Corcoran. She set Rachel and I up in an effort to connect with her. They met yesterday after glee practice and it didn't exactly go over well."

"It didn't?"

Jesse shook his head. "Rachel wasn't in a state to explain last night and I didn't want to bring it up this morning, but from what I understand Mrs. Corcoran didn't have realistic expectations. She couldn't handle the fact that Rachel was a person who had grown up without her for sixteen years."

Mr. Schue nodded in understanding. He was quiet for a minute before saying, "What are you asking me to do, Jesse? Because this may be an issue better handled by Ms. Pillsbury."

"That's not necessary. I suspect Rachel wouldn't be comfortable with it either." He took a deep breath before continuing, "I understand that you've had contact with Mrs. Corcoran before?" The glee teacher's face flushed a bright red, but he gave a nod of affirmation. "Good. I'd simply like you to speak to her about how unacceptable her reaction was and the fact that she needs to stay far away from Rachel. I would deliver the message myself, but there are circumstances which make that impossible."

He waited until Mr. Schue had nodded before adding, "Rachel was insistent on coming to school today, even though I tried to convince her to take the day off. I would appreciate if you could refrain from commenting on any of this. She would prefer things to go on as normally as possible."

"Sure thing, Jesse."

"Thank you."

He turned to leave, only to be stopped by Mr. Schue calling out for him. He turned his head to see the man and was a little surprised to see a small smile on the teacher's face given the circumstances.

"I can see how much you care for Rachel," Mr. Schue informed, "and I just wanted to let you know that your good for her."

Jesse's eyes widened a bit in surprise.

It wasn't as if Mr. Schue had really ever shown him any disdain, but it was pretty clear that the man held a clear biased towards Finn.

With the two of them vying after the same girl, Jesse hadn't expected to have Mr. Schue's approval.

"Thank you," Jesse said after a moment. "But I think it's the other way around."

Mr. Schue just smiled and waved him off.

Jesse sighed as Rachel pressed the wet wipe against his cheek, taking off some of the white makeup that caked his face.

"I should have performed with you guys instead," Jesse said. "This KISS make up is going to be hell on my complexion."

"You're overreacting," Rachel declared. "It won't have any effect as long as we get it off quickly."

His only response was another sigh.

He watched her work in silence for a while.

After several moments, he reached up and caught her wrist. Her hand stilled against his cheek.

"How are you?" he questioned.

She took a shaky breath before admitting, "Still upset, still shook up." He gave a small nod, having anticipating that. "But, I'm going to be okay."

He looked in her eyes, searching for any hint that she was lying. When he found done, he said, "Really?"

"Really," she assured. "Don't get me wrong, I wanted her. But, I don't need her. I have Mr. Schue. I have the glee club. I have my dads. I have you."

He squeezed her wrist and repeated his words from the night before, "You'll have me always."

"I know." A moment passed before she let out a soft sigh. "I would kiss you, but I think it would be a little awkward given the state of your face."

"Agreed." His lips quirked in a small smile, "After?"

She nodded, her lips curling as well. "After."

E/n: Okay so this chapter was a little rough to get started, I had to figure out how to rework the original Shelby-Rachel meeting to fit with the bits of canon that I've already shifted. Hopefully this works well for everyone?

I hope this isn't too repetitive for anyone? Rachel and Jesse are making a lot of the same touches, but that's mostly because they've been in a lot of emotionally charged situations where they needed to comfort each other. After journey to regionals, I'm hoping to mix that up a bit as their interactions will largely be fluffy or through a computer screen since Jesse won't be in Lima. Bear with me?

Unless your enjoying all the touching between them, I certainly am. In canon I always liked our casual they were about touching each other.